


The Ghost of You

by BelleBlackwood



Category: Belle x Rumplestiltskin, Once Upon a Time (TV), Rumbelle - Fandom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-16
Updated: 2013-08-16
Packaged: 2017-12-23 17:19:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/929095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BelleBlackwood/pseuds/BelleBlackwood
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An AU where Rumplestiltskin was killed in Manhattan by Hook and is haunting Bae’s old apartment complex. Belle comes to see him and everything changes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Ghost of You

He’d died there, on the floor in that apartment complex in Manhattan. Whatever magic there was left in his bones and his soul caused him to stay rooted to that exact location, no matter how hard he tried to escape. At first he’d been angry, furious that such a thing as mortality could have stopped the Dark One and full of denial that he’d be stuck in this place forever. He took his frustrations out on his environment, learning quickly that if he channeled strong bursts of energy he could make things move and gather attention from the living around him.  
Unfortunately, that also gathered the spirits inhabiting alongside him in the building.   
“Are you crazy?! He’ll hear you!” a woman with a large gash in her head hissed at him from atop the stairs. At first Rumplestiltskin had been alarmed at her appearance, but as he watched he realized that the woman was not an intelligent spirit like him, but she was on a loop– every time there was a loud noise, whether a tenant slammed a door or Rumple yelled too loudly at a passerby - she would rise, hiss the same words and then retreat into what must be her room. Rumple watched her with mild fascination and envy, wishing he too could be that oblivious to what had happened to him. Instead he longed for his family back in Storybrooke. He longed to see Belle’s beautiful eyes again and to hear Bae’s voice.   
Years passed like days.  
Word quickly spread that the apartment complex was haunted. Multiple ghost expedition crews came in, but it was not until almost three years since Hook had killed him that he finally granted one the pleasure of knowing his name. Growing tired of listening to the woman upstairs hiss every time someone made a sound, he irritatedly yelled “MY NAME IS RUMPLESTILTSKIN!” into an investigator’s microphone and withheld the urge to smack the idiot up the head. Then the people really started pouring in, and so did the rest of the undead residents. Rumple then discovered that there was a young girl living in the room above Bae’s with eyes as brown as his. When the investigators came near her she would often run to his side, clutching his hand and whimpering for her papa with her large brown eyes widened in fear. Rumple found himself comforting the little girl more than once although he only saw her emerge once someone entered her room.  
A year had passed since the last exploration crew had come to the apartment complex. Since then, it had been renovated by the new owners and Rumple watched as the same floor he had died upon was torn up and replaced with a shiny black linoleum tile. He could almost feel the texture of the floor on his ghost fingers as he sat in the stairway and watched the men work. Not much had changed in four years and yet everything was different. He didn’t recognize any of the new tenants, nor did he have an interest to go snooping into their lives. He had finally accepted his fate and was waiting for the day the magic would finally fade from his tormented soul.  
That was, before the next investigation crew had come in. They announced their arrival one night, telling the ghosts of the apartment complex they were staying the night with them and they’d like to talk with them. Rumple rolled his eyes, watching from his usual perch on the staircase when another participant walked in the door.  
Belle. His Belle was here. She hadn’t changed at all, still dressed in the beautiful clothes he’d given her when she’d regained her memories in Storybrooke. Rumple approached her, passing through one of the cameramen, wondering when she’d crossed the town line when he saw it – the piece that had chipped out of their chipped cup. She had encased it in a small glass bottle, the kind you kept gem stones in – and glittering brightly around the piece of the tea cup was the potion he had made, the potion he had put on Bae’s scarf to cross the line.  
His clever, clever girl.  
“Rumplestiltskin?” she said, her eyes full of hesitation. If he’d had a heart still in his ghostly form his heart would have burst from his chest at the sound of his name. Rumple struggled to answer her, finding it hard to gather the energy needed when she reached in her pocket and retrieved a small bell. Oh Belle.  
“Rumple, if you’re here still – I’m going to hang this bell right here on this coat hook. Ring it once for yes and twice for no, okay?” Belle hung the small brass bell – which he now recognized as the one from his shop – onto the coat hook. He crossed the room, focusing his energy as well as he could and made the bell ring once. Belle’s eyes widened and filled with tears.  
“Oh Rumple, is it really you?” she said, looking around the room. One of the idiots carrying a camera handed a small device to Belle, who then held it an arm’s length away from the bell. Rumple touched the little brass bell again, making it ring. Her face broke into a large, tearful grin – one he hadn’t realized he’d missed in all these years apart.  
“Rumple, the Blue Fairy brought my memories back after the others returned.” She said, staring at the little device. He moved closer to her and the device spiked, causing one of the cameramen to yell at Belle to keep talking. She nodded her head, visibly shaken by the happenings. His brave girl, always so courageous even in the face of uncertainty.  
“Bae is safe, he’s living with me now in the manor. Emma and Henry visit almost every day, along with Ruby and everyone else. I’m not alone – in fact, I adopted a cat from Charming’s vet clinic. I named him Romeow. You’d laugh, he sleeps on your pillow every night. He even has that grumpy face you make in the mornings.” Rumple’s eyes filled with tears as Belle kept telling him about her life, the life he’d never be able to partake in again.  
“I want you to know,” Belle said, choking back tears. “I’m taking care of the shop and of Storybrooke. I’m the new Mayor now after Regina was voted out unanimously.” Rumple laughed hollowly, wiping away his tears. He rang the bell extra hard, making it clang loudly. Belle laughed, wiping at her eyes.  
“I knew you’d like that. It was unanimous too, I guess no one wanted to take on Rumplestiltskin’s true love in even politics.”  
“Belle..” he said, reaching her face. He gently dragged his fingertips across her jawline and watched as Belle’s eyes widened.  
“Rumple, did you just touch me?” Rumple rang the bell, eyes wide as he saw Belle look to one of the cameramen in shock. Finally, one of the investigators spoke.  
“Mr. Gold, my name is Kevin and I’m here to help Ms. French investigate. I’m going to put this microphone right here, and if you have anything you’d like to say feel free to approach it and say whatever you feel. We can’t hear it right now, but we will later once we process it.” The one called Kevin left a small recorder on the watchmen’s desk facing towards where Rumple and Belle stood. Rumple brushed his fingers against Belle’s cheek one last time before approaching the recorder.  
“Belle, sweetheart,” Rumple stopped to look at Belle, her fingers tracing where his had been. There was so much he wanted to say to her but he froze, trying to choose what was best to say.  
“Belle, I love you.” He said into the microphone as loud as he could. Then with as much energy as he could muster, he moved the recorder away to signal he was done. The cameraman shrieked like a little girl and soon they were all crowded around, all except for Belle. Belle had sat herself down on the stairway he himself had so often occupied, watching the people go by. She seemed to be in a stupor, processing everything she had just experienced. Rumple sat next to her, watching her face intently.  
“Oh Rumple,” she said softly, playing with her necklace. “I miss you so much Rumple.”  
Rumple brushed his fingers over her soft hair and felt Belle lean into the sensation like she had when he was alive.  
“I miss you too, Belle.” He said softly, into her ear not knowing if she could hear him or not. Right now it felt right to have her near him; talking to her like she could see, hear and touch him. One of the investigators handed Belle a hot coffee and a blanket and there the two of them stayed til morning when the investigation was finally wrapped up. Belle shook all three of the investigators hands and thanked them vehemently for allowing her to come along. They insisted on inviting her back another time for another investigation of the apartment complex but she shook her head.  
“I found what I was looking for. Please, send me the audio when you’ve processed it. I’d like to hear if he’s spoken to me.” The investigators agreed, packed up and left. Belle stayed on the steps with him for another hour.  
“Rumple, I don’t know if you’re still here,” Rumple rang the bell, letting her know he hadn’t left her. Belle smiled.  
“I should’ve known you’d stay right next to me. Rumple, when it’s my time, I’m going to come find you and we’re going home together. Do you understand?” Rumple rang the bell again and Belle stood up from the stairs.  
“I’m going to go back this evening to Storybrooke. I could return with Bae, if that’s what you want.” Another ding from the little brass bell confirmed that decision. Belle took the bell down from the coat hook and looked toward the doorway. The morning sun was starting to stream through the windows and she covered her eyes from the bright glare.  
“I’m going back to my hotel and sleeping. I’ll be back this evening to say goodbye, as much as I don’t want to.” Belle headed towards the doorway and sighed sadly.  
“Wait for me, Rumple. I love you.”  
Years and years passed. The building was renovated, added onto and eventually fell into disrepair in what became a slum of Manhattan. Rumplestiltskin had noticed hardly anything, waiting for the day Belle would come back to him and they could depart this life together. He sat where the stairway had once been located, now in ruin. He had heard the little girl calling for her papa from the above floors but he had no interest in responding until he heard her yell something quite peculiar.  
“Papa, papa! There’s a woman coming to visit us!” It was the first time Rumplestiltskin in all his years here had heard her say something else. Curious, he peered out the broken windows and saw his Belle crossing the street to come to him. Finally.  
“Belle,” he whispered, backing away from the window. Belle entered the apartment complex, stepping through the boarded up front door with ease.  
“R-Rumple?..” she said, looking around anxiously. The complex was in ruins like she expected and she wasn’t sure where to start to find her true love.  
“Belle!” Rumple yelled, rushing towards her. Belle’s eyes widened with tears and she threw her arms around her beloved, happy to be able to finally touch him again.  
“Rumple, oh Rumplestiltskin,” she murmured, burying her face in his neck. “I can’t believe you’re here. You waited for me, after all these years.”  
“I couldn’t leave, Belle. Not even if I had a choice.” He said, running his hands through her hair as she gazed at him.  
“I thought so,” she said, sighing. “The investigators said it was likely you were trapped here because of how you died.” Rumple nodded, staring into Belle’s blue eyes. They were still so bright even in their ghost form.  
“But,” Belle said, a mischievous smile on her lips. “I found a way for us to be together.” She took Rumple’s hands and put them on her hips.  
“Kiss me.” She said, grinning at him. Rumple laughed.  
“I thought you’d never ask, love.” Their lips met and Rumple felt a shock roll down his body.  
“Belle, what-“ He felt lighter than he had in years, the chains of his tortured existence here lifted and his body almost airless, like he could finally leave this place. Belle smiled at him, gently pushing his hair out of his face.  
“True love can break any curse and reunite any lost love.” She said, rejoining their lips once again. The shackles binding Rumple to the apartment complex were gone. All that existed was him and Belle, and they were finally free to leave and be together forever.  
“Let’s go on an adventure, shall we?” she said, taking Rumple’s hands in hers. Rumplestiltskin was finally a free man. He grinned at Belle and kissed her again.  
“Let’s go explore this new world, my love. Together.”


End file.
